50. Port Hercule
Port Hercule
The fact that KALI had been watching us the whole time was unsettling.
It dawned on me, that she might be listening to us as well by using our phone mics.
The question is, when did she start? The whole team was caught off guard by it.
But not Belle; she had a short temper and showed it at that moment.
Belle didn’t appreciate being toyed with; even if it was some super AI computer.
Suddenly, she removed the power to the TV and smacked the laptop against the security camera destroying both; then proceeded to bark orders at the rest of us.
“What about him?” Widow asked, pointing at Theo.
“Interpol will pick him up. My contact at the embassy will see to it. We need to keep moving,” Belle replied. “Leave him tied to the bar.”
“Moving how? We have no car?” I said.
“Then we’ll walk,” Belle said.
“Through the packed streets? In full body armor and carrying weapons?” Thor quipped.
“Extra security for the F1 race; we’ll blend in, I suppose,” Jerry said. “Or we’ll scare off the pedestrians, clearing the area. Either way is good.”
We left the building the same way we came in. Once we reached the ground floor, we headed to Saint’s last known position, when his voice came through the radio.
“Can you hear me? Come in?” Saint said, coughing between words.
“Saint?” Spider replied. “Where are you, over?”
“I’m? You know what? That’s a good question. I have no idea,” Saint replied. “I got blown out of a window. Let me get some bearings.”
“He fell out of a window?” I said.
“Window? Say again?” Spider asked, unsure if he heard him correctly.
“Roger. Grenade went off. I’m heading your way now.”
Saint looked like hell. His vest was severely damaged.
He had burn marks on his hands and arms, scratches on his shoulders, and ripped pants.
Honestly, it appeared as if he’d been mauled by a grizzly bear.
We ran into him on our walk north of the building, just by the sea wall, south of the port Hercule.
Bystanders and tourists were snapping pictures of him as if he were an attraction.
“Jesus, what happened?” I said.
“Detour. That’s what happened,” Saint replied.
“Glad to see you’re alright,” Spider said as he tapped him on the shoulder. “But where’s your rifle?”
“Destroyed. Was hoping you guys brought a spare.”
“Here,” Widow said, handing him an old Soviet SVD rifle she picked up on the way out of the building.
“Does it work?” Saint asked.
“We’ll find out,” Belle replied. “Let’s keep moving.”
I filled Saint in on what had happened in the Suite with the drive and the AI.
He didn’t understand much of the technology behind it, but agreed it was the worst possible outcome.
We had failed to contain it. And now, our only hope was retrieving the drive, and stopping it in Italy before it went ahead with its plans for humanity.
The crowds thinned out by the time we reached the port entrance.
And the sun was about to set. The city lights came on not long after painting the walkway and the streets around us.
After a brutal run, we reached the port.
But we could go no further than the entrance.
Amir and his men had blocked it. Filled it with rubbish and pallets of cargo.
Behind it all, stood one man with a submachine gun.
I could see him pacing through the slits in the barricade and immediately recognized him.
He was at that restaurant back home. One of the original four sitting at the table.
“I know him,” I whispered to Belle.
“Are you sure?” Belle replied.
“He was at the restaurant I told you about in Miami. That guy was one of the four that attacked you at the motel. This is the place. It looks like Theo told us the truth,” I said.
“Well, the guns and security gave it away. But, it’s nice to have confirmation.”
“I can’t see Amir, though. Anyone got eyes?
” I said into the microphone. The team had taken defensive positions around the pier entrance.
We all had a different vantage point overlooking the pier allowing us to scan the area better.
It was Saint, perched atop a parked bus across the street, that spotted him first. Amir was standing on the deck of the largest Yacht in the pier, with a phone in one hand, and the drive in the other. Saint trained his sights on him.
“Ready to take the shot,” Saint said into his radio.
“On my command,” Spider replied. He nudged forward and readied himself to jump over the barricade. “Go!”
I watched as Spider rushed towards the barricade like a mad dog; hungry to devour the man on the other side.